blanketglossary

Carbon

Definition

Carbon is a chemical element; it has symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 electrons. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon makes up about 0.025 percent of Earth's crust. Three isotopes occur naturally, 12C and 13C being stable, while 14C is a radionuclide, decaying with a half-life of 5,700 years. Carbon is one of the few elements known since antiquity.

Related concepts

10^12 Aaldert Wapstra Abiogenesis Absorption (chemistry)Abundance of elements in Earth's crust Abundance of the chemical elements Acetylene Acetylide Actinium Activated carbon Activated charcoal Activation energy Adenosine triphosphate Adsorbent Aggregated diamond nanorod Albert Nasibulin Alkali metal Alkali metals Alkaline earth metal Alkaloid Allotrope Allotropes Allotropes of carbon Allotropy Alloy Allylpalladium chloride dimer Alpha particle Alternative biochemistry Aluminium Americium Amino acid Amorphous Amorphous carbon Ancient Egypt Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl.Anisotropic Annealing (metallurgy)Anthracite Antimony Antoine Lavoisier Argon Argyle mine Arkansas Aromatic hydrocarbon Arsenic Astatine Asteroid belt Asteroid mining Atmosphere Atmospheric pressure Atom Atomic carbon Atomic nuclei Atomic number Atomic weight Aurophilicity BBC Barium Bearing (mechanical)Berkelium Beryllium Beta decay Beta minus decay Beta plus decay Bicarbonate Big Bang Biosphere Bismuth Block (periodic table)Bohrium Boron Boron-11 Boron carbide Boron group Borrowdale Bort Bromine Brush (electric)Buckminsterfullerene Buckyball Bulk modulus C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)C70 fullerene CAS Registry Number CNO cycle CRC Press Cabrón Cadmium Caesium Calcite Calcium Californium Calvin cycle Carbide Carbide-derived carbon Carbon-12 Carbon-13 Carbon-14 Carbon-based life Carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle Carbon (disambiguation)Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center Carbon black Carbon chauvinism Carbon compounds Carbon cycle Carbon detonation Carbon dioxide Carbon diselenide Carbon disulfide Carbon fiber Carbon fibers Carbon fixation Carbon footprint Carbon group Carbon hexoxide Carbon monofluoride Carbon monosulfide Carbon monoxide Carbon nanobud Carbon nanofibers Carbon nanofoam Carbon nanoscrolls Carbon nanotube Carbon nitride Carbon oxides Carbon paper Carbon pentoxide Carbon planet Carbon star Carbon steel Carbon suboxide Carbon subsulfide Carbon tetroxide Carbon trioxide Carbonate Carbonic acid Carbonyl sulfide Carbon–carbon bond Carbon–hydrogen bond Carbon–nitrogen bond Carbon–oxygen bond Carborane Carborundum Carl Wilhelm Scheele Carotenoid Case hardening Castor oil plant Catenation Celestial body's atmosphere Cellulose Cementite Cerium Chalcogen Chaoite Charcoal Charcoal (art)Chemical Abstracts Service Chemical Physics Letters Chemical bond Chemical bonds Chemical compound Chemical element Chemical formula Chemical reduction Chemical symbol Chitin Chlorine Chromium Claude Louis Berthollet Cleavage (crystal)Climatology Coal Coal gasification Coalworker's pneumoconiosis Cobalt Coefficient of thermal expansion Coke (fuel)Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights Copernicium Copper Corbon Cosmic ray Covalent bond Covalent bonds Covalent radii Covalent radius Covalently bonded Crystal structure Cubic structure Cubic system Cumberland Curium Cyanate Cyanide Cyanogen Cyanometalate Cyaphide Cyclo(18)carbon Cyclo(6)carbon Cyclohexanehexone Cyclopentanepentone Cyclopropatriene Cylinder D-block DK (publisher)DNA Darmstadtium David Christian (historian)Decay product Delocalized electron Density Density functional theory Detonation nanodiamond Diamagnetic Diamond Diamond anvil cell Diamond cubic Diatomic carbon Diavik Diamond Mine Dicarbon monoxide Dissolved inorganic carbon Dolomite (mineral)Dubnium Dysprosium Earth's atmosphere Einsteinium Ekati Electric motors Electrical conductivity Electrical conductor Electrical resistivity and conductivity Electricity Electrode Electroforming Electron configuration Electronegativity Electroplating Element Six Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition Endmills Enthalpy of fusion Erbium Ester Ethenedithione Europium Exoplanet Exothermic reaction Expandable graphite Extractor hood F-block FeMoco Feldspar Fermium Ferrocene Filter (chemistry)Flame retardant Flerovium Fluorescence Fluorine Fossil fuel Francium Fred Pearce Fullerene Fullerene whiskers Fullerenes Fulleride Fulminate Functional group GHS hazard statements GLODAP Gadolinium Gallium Gas carbon Gaspard Monge Geodesic dome Germanium Giant star Gigatonne Glassy carbon Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals Gneiss Gold Graphene Graphite Graphite intercalation compounds Group (periodic table)Group 10 element Group 11 element Group 12 element Group 3 element Group 4 element Group 5 element Group 6 element Group 7 element Group 8 element Group 9 element Haeckelites Hafnium Half-life Halide Halogen Harold Kroto Hassium Heat sink Helium Helium compounds Hemp Heteroatom Hexagon Hexagonal crystal family Hexagonal crystal system Hexagonal system Hexamethylbenzene High-pressure experiments Holmium Horizontal branch Hugh Chisholm Hydrocarbons Hydrochloric acid Hydrogen In Our Time (radio series)India ink Indium Industrial diamond Inorganic compound Insulator (electrical)International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry Iodine Ion Ionization energy Iridium Iron Iron smelting Isotope Isotopes of beryllium Isotopes of carbon Isotopes of lithium Isotropic Jonathan Clayden Journal of Chemical Physics Journal of the American Chemical Society Kerogen Kilojoule per mole Kimberlite Kimberlite pipes Krypton Lampblack Lanthanum Laser printer Latin language Lattice constant Lawrencium Lead Lectin Lens (geology)Lignan Limestone Linear acetylenic carbon List of chemical element name etymologies List of data references for chemical elements List of inorganic compounds List of thermal conductivities Lithium Livermorium Lonsdaleite Low-carbon economy Lutetium Magnesium Magnetic susceptibility Magnetism Manganese Marble Mary Anne White Meitnerium Mellitic acid Mellitic anhydride Mendelevium Mercury (element)Metal carbonyl Metallocene Metamorphic Meteorite Methane Methane clathrate Methane hydrates Mica Microchips Mildred Dresselhaus Milky Way Mir Mine Mohs scale Mohs scale of mineral hardness Molar heat capacity Molar ionization energies of the elements Molecular cloud Molybdenum Moscovium NASA NFPA 704 Nanomaterial Nanostructure Nanotechnology Nanotubes Natural abundance Neodymium Neon Neon compounds Neptunium Neutron Neutron moderator New Scientist New York City Nickel Nihonium Niobium Nitric acid Nitrogen Nitrogen-14 Nitrogen fixation Nobel Prize Nobelium Noble gas Nonmetal Norman Greenwood Norman Horowitz North Carolina State University Nuclear fusion Nuclear halo Nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear reactor Octet rule Oganesson Oil reserves Opaque Orbital hybridisation Orbital hybridization Organic chemistry Organic compound Organoactinide chemistry Organoaluminium chemistry Organoantimony chemistry Organoargon chemistry Organoarsenic chemistry Organoastatine chemistry Organobarium chemistry Organoberyllium chemistry Organobismuth chemistry Organoboron chemistry Organobromine chemistry Organocadmium chemistry Organocalcium chemistry Organocerium chemistry Organocesium chemistry Organochlorine chemistry Organochromium chemistry Organocobalt chemistry Organocopper chemistry Organofluorine chemistry Organogallium chemistry Organogermanium chemistry Organogold chemistry Organohafnium chemistry Organoindium chemistry Organoiodine chemistry Organoiridium chemistry Organoiron chemistry Organokrypton chemistry Organolanthanide chemistry Organolead chemistry Organolithium reagent Organomagnesium chemistry Organomanganese chemistry Organomercury chemistry Organometallic chemistry Organomolybdenum chemistry Organoneptunium chemistry Organonickel chemistry Organoniobium chemistry Organoosmium chemistry Organopalladium chemistry Organophosphorus chemistry Organoplatinum chemistry Organopolonium chemistry Organopotassium chemistry Organoradium chemistry Organorhenium chemistry Organorhodium chemistry Organorubidium chemistry Organoruthenium chemistry Organoscandium chemistry Organoseaborgium chemistry Organoselenium chemistry Organosilicon chemistry Organosilver chemistry Organosodium chemistry Organostrontium chemistry Organosulfur chemistry Organotantalum chemistry Organotechnetium chemistry Organotellurium chemistry Organothallium chemistry Organothorium chemistry Organotin chemistry Organotitanium chemistry Organotungsten chemistry Organouranium chemistry Organovanadium chemistry Organoxenon chemistry Organoyttrium chemistry Organozinc chemistry Organozirconium chemistry Osmium Oxidation state Oxocarbon Oxygen P-block PAH world hypothesis PNAS Paleoatmosphere Palladium Pearson Education Pearson symbol Peat Peat bog Penta-graphene Period (periodic table)Period 1 element Period 2 element Period 3 element Period 4 element Period 5 element Period 6 element Period 7 element Periodic table Peter Chrisp Peter Wothers Petrochemical industry Petroleum Phaedon Avouris Phase (matter)Philip Skell Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Phosphorus Photosynthesis Photosynthetic Physical properties Pi bond Picometre Plasma (physics)Platinum Plutonium Pnictogen Poisson's ratio Polar molecule Polonium Polyacrylonitrile Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Polymer Porosity Potassium Potassium ferricyanide Praseodymium Precious metal Primordial nuclide Prismane C8 Promethium Protactinium Proton Proton emission Protoplanetary disk Pseudohalogen Pyrolysis Pyrolytic graphite Q-carbon Quartz RNA Radioactive decay Radiocarbon dating Radioisotope Radionuclide Radium Radon Rebecca Wragg Sykes René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur Rhenium Rhodium Richard Buckminster Fuller Richard Smalley Ricin Ricinus communis Robert Curl Roentgenium Room temperature Rubidium Ruthenium Rutherfordium S-block Sakha Republic Samarium Sandstone Scandium Seaborgium Selenium Semiconductor Shale gas Shear modulus Silicon Silicon carbide Silver Single crystal Sirius Smelting Sodium Solid Sonication Space elevator Specific heat capacity Specific strength Spectral line Speed of sound Spheroid Spontaneously combust Springer Science+Business Media Stable isotope Standard Gibbs free energy of formation Standard atmosphere (unit)Standard atomic weight Standard temperature and pressure Star formation Steel Stratosphere Strontium Stuart Warren Sublimation (phase transition)Submillimeter Subsurface bacteria Sulfur Sulfuric acid Sumer Supergiant Superlubricity Synthetic diamond Synthetic diamonds Synthetic radioisotope Tantalum Taylor & Francis Technetium Tellurium Tennessine Terbium Terpene Tetracarbonylnickel Tetraethyllead Tetrahedron Tetravalence Tetrodotoxin Thallium The Indian Express The Periodic Table of Videos Thermal conductivities Thermal conductivity Thermal insulation Thermal neutron Thermodynamic equilibrium Thiocyanate Thiofulminate Thomas Ebbesen Thomas Loerting Thorium Three-center bond Thulium Timeline of carbon nanotubes Timeline of chemical element discoveries Tin Titanium Titanium carbide Tonne Trace radioisotope Transition metal Transition metal carbene complex Transparency (optics)Tricarbon Triple-alpha process Triple point Troposphere Tungsten Tungsten carbide USGS Udachnaya pipe Upper atmosphere Uranium Ursula Marvin Valence electron Valence shell Van der Waals force Van der Waals radius Vanadium Vein (geology)Viking program Wigner energy Windscale fire X-ray X-ray fluorescence Xenon Young's modulus Ytterbium Yttrium Zeise's salt Zinc Zirconium Ötzi the Iceman

36 concepts already in your glossary